By Lorna Nickson-Brown

BIRMINGHAM, UK – For centuries, theater has been at the forefront of a Brit's leisure interest, with theater-going being a regular activity among most families. But nowadays, the theater is increasingly replaced by the play-station game, and the once desirable evening performances ditched for a reality TV show.

In Shakespeare’s day, whether standing in an open courtyard or sitting in a covered gallery, theater was enjoyed by all spectators from all divisions of society. In a recent survey taken at Kings Norton Girl’s School in Birmingham (UK), however, only one out of 100 young people, aged between 14-16, named theatre as their preferred leisure interest. The majority of the teenagers described their experience of the theater as either "un-cool" or simply "too expensive."

The survey, carried out by Year 12 Theater Studies students, supported findings carried out by the Gallup Organization in February 2007. This study showed that the theatre is the chosen leisure activity of a mere 16 per cent of young Europeans, aged between 15-30, while watching TV comes out with 19 per cent.

These results are supported by figures of consumer spending. According to The Stage, a UK-based newspaper that covers the performing arts industry, £850 million are spent in Britain each year on tickets for live performances, while £26 billion is spent on recorded performances.